I Showed my Parents the Japan I Love | 10 Day Summer Itinerary

I Showed my Parents the Japan I Love | 10 Day Summer Itinerary

Welcome back to another video, everyone. In 
this video, there’s no van life. I’m actually back in Tokyo. And usually, if I’m back in Tokyo, 
that means that I’m meeting up with someone. So, Oh, excuse me. Wait, what? What 
the heck? Good to see you. Well, this is who I’m meeting up with. This is my 
dad and my stepmom, and for the next two weeks, we’ll be traveling around Japan. Since 
my parents are visiting for only 10 days, we chose to focus the itinerary on two areas. 
We opted for a rental car for a couple of days in each so I could show them Japan a bit more off 
the beaten path. But as with most trips to Japan, the adventure first starts in Tokyo. We were 
staying in Ginza and shopping doesn’t interest me too much. So the first place I wanted to take 
my parents was Hamarikyu Gardens. Considering it’s right outside of Ginza, I think it’s a bit 
underrated. I love it because it offers an escape from the bustling city life of the biggest 
commercial and business districts in Tokyo. If it weren’t for the massive buildings surrounding 
the garden, you’d almost forget you were in the largest metropolitan area in the world. 
And if you want to elevate the experience, I’d also recommend stopping for a 
matcha at the tea house on the lake. Thoughts on the matcha? Thoughts on the 
matcha? Oh, matcha is is tastes like green tea. Very smooth green tea. Yeah. 
is much smoother. After a quick lunch, we headed to the west side of the city with 
a stop at Tokyo Tower to walk through some of my favorite view spots. Starting with 
Prince Shiba Park, a large open green space, which is a great spot to sit and relax with 
views of the tower. Then heading over to the adjacent Zojo Temple. I love the contrast 
between the 700-year-old temple and the modern buildings in the background. It’s also 
really quiet here at night and makes for some cool photo ops. Though the temple was founded 
in the 1300s, it was in the Edo period that it rose to prominence when it became the Tokugawa 
family temple during their rule as shoguns. We had to take a walk through Shibuya, but 
other than the crossing in Miyashita Park, I wanted to bring them to a spot you can easily 
miss despite being right beside the station. Nonbei Yokocho is an alley that was originally 
established in the 1940s and still retains a Showa era charm to it. Somehow 38 
establishments are fit into this tiny block, and each bar fits around six people on average. 
It’s like a smaller, perhaps lesserknown version of Shinjuku’s Golden Gai. We were there quite 
early, around 6:00 p.m., so most places were still prepping for opening, but we managed 
to sneak into one for some yakitori and drinks. To end off the day, we still needed a proper 
dinner and I knew just the place near our  hotel in Ginza. Yurakucho If you want informal Tokyo dining 
vibes, this is a great place to get that. After a full day in Tokyo together, I actually 
had a gig to shoot at the Osaka Expo for the Canadian Pavilion for a couple of days. So, my 
parents explored Tokyo themselves for a day. Then, we rendevued in Kyoto. We are now in Kyoto. 
I’m personally not a big fan of Kyoto city, but my dad wanted to see it. So, we took 
a three-hour walking tour with a local in the hopes of learning more about Kyoto 
and maybe even seeing some hidden gems. He started with bringing us to a hanamachi or geiko 
district. He taught us that Gion being called THE geiko district is actually a misconception 
as Gion is just the name of a neighborhood to locals and there are in reality five geiko 
districts, one of them being in Gion. We continued walking towards the eastern edge of Kyoto 
city to Chionin Temple which is home to the largest wooden gate tower in Japan and where the 
Buddhist Jodo sect originated essentially opening Buddhism to the masses as it was previously 
reserved only for higher classes and monks. There was so much more information he imparted on 
us that I can’t possibly fit into this video. So, I highly recommend doing a 
walking tour of your own. [Music] After finding lunch, we spent a bit more time 
exploring the eastern edge, just a bit further north at Philosophers’s Path. You can easily 
see why professor of philosophy Nishida Kitaro, after who this path is named after, would walk 
this route to meditate and reflect. Once you reach the northern end, it takes you to 
Ginkakuji, the famous silver pavilion, which is very crowded, so we quickly 
turned around and found another temple nearby to enjoy instead. It was not only 
free of charge, but also free of crowds. [Music] Wagyu A5. What do we have 
here? A little Wagyu. Shabu Shabu A5. No, Sukiyaki! Oh, sukiyaki. Yes. But for the vegetarian, Michelle, what do you have over here? I have tofu.
Tofu skin aka yuba. So, it’s a yuba shabu set. [Music] [Music] So, Papa, he was worried about having to 
worry. How is it? Oh, it’s good. It’s good. There you go. Expanding his horizons. At 
62 years old, it’s not too late. Old dogs. Nothing like chilling on the Kamogawa River. Have a little drink. Hot summer night 
or cool summer night. Anyway, beautiful. We just said just like up. Come by. 
Oh yeah. So cool. Papa, what a model. Let’s see. All right, we’ve got the rental car here and 
we are headed northbound out of Kyoto City, but the north of Kyoto Prefecture over to 
Ine. Let’s go. My recommendation for everyone visiting Japan is to rent a car for even a few 
days. The train system in Japan is world class, don’t get me wrong, but having a vehicle opens 
up so many more possibilities. So, we left Kyoto City behind to see what else the larger Kyoto 
Prefecture had to offer. The quaint fishing town of Ine was the end destination for today. Ine has 
only become famous in recent years for its unique boatous or funaya, which make for a beautiful 
townscape, especially when viewed from a boat. [Music] [Music] So, we lucked out and got one of the 
boat houses for our accommodation. So, come check this out. Here’s the inside. So it 
actually is a boat house and our room is up here. So here is the upstairs of the funaya. 
One futon and two beds in here. Not bad. All right, the parents are going to take a little rest in the Airbnb and I’m 
going to take a bike ride. [Music] It’s crazy. There are sea urchins everywhere 
here. You would not want to fall in. Man, this area of Ine with all the funaya, 
the boat houses, is so beautiful. But with that beauty, it is also extremely touristy. And 
as a result, because it is such a small town, the parking is actually 5,000 yen. 5,000 yen 
per day. Luckily, we get free parking with our accommodation, but even the accommodations are 
hard to get because there are not many of them. And as a result, they are also quite expensive. 
But it does give you the benefit of enjoying the evening when most people have gone home as well 
as the morning before most of the tourists come in. So that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. But 
dinner’s coming up quick, so I got to get back. [Music] What do we have here? 
And to finish off some nigiri. Well, after a delicious dinner, it’s dark out 
now. There’s absolutely no one on the streets. So, I’m going to take advantage, and 
try to get some long exposures. We left Ine before the crowds had a chance to 
arrive. Heading around the coast westbound, which apparently is not a common route. We 
hardly saw any tourists all day, even Japanese. [Music] So, funny story, we actually had to move beaches 
because we were eating lunch on that last beach, and surprisingly, we had some kites, or hawks, 
swing in, first grab food off your plate, right? Yeah. Did they get something? No, they 
just knocked my plate and I lost a few things with the with the impact, but Yeah. And then well they 
tried for mine. I can’t remember if they actually got one or if the fish fell off, but I lost a 
piece of fish unfortunately, which I really wanted that piece of fish, so that sucks. We had to run 
it back to the car and fight them off. Yeah. And fight them off with my tripod and your umbrella. 
It was surprising how aggressive they are. So just be careful when you’re eating uh food on the 
beaches of northern Kyoto Prefecture. I imagine fish in particular, they could smell it, I’m sure. 
Probably. Yeah. But anyway, no kites so far here, but we don’t have any food. Yeah, we’re good. 
[Music] Ryan enjoying a little mid-after afternoon swim in the ocean. So nice. By mid-afternoon, we 
arrived at Kinosaki Onsen. Founded in the year 720, Kinosaki has a long history as a hotspring 
town. What’s cool is that most hotels offer a pass for all the famous onsens in town. So you can walk 
around in your yukata and go onsen hopping. Well, all checked into the ryokan. So we’re going 
to hit a couple of the private onsens before too many people check in. And then we’re 
going to hit the town in our yukatas. So they’re all private onsens. So you just flip it from vacant to occupied and 
enjoy your private onsen. Oo. Wow. That’s gorgeous. Okay, we hit our first onsen in the ryokan. We 
got our yukatas fitted. Time to hit the town. [Music]
[Music] Our [Music] first onen other than 
inside the ryokan of course. [Music] All right. Second onen or third 
including the yokchino. [Applause] All right, we got the family mart here. 
Papa, what are we getting? Fami chiki. Fami chiki. The first konbini experience. 
So many choices. Too many choices. Papa, you going to get anything? Uh famichiki 
just famichiki. All right just famichiki. Beautiful view. [Music] Cheers. [Music] Honest review. Yeah, it’s tasty. Reminds 
me of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Like for a convenience store though, 
isn’t this incredible? Yeah. So, they just have it there just to pick up 
real quick. Very good. I think it’s amazing. All right, breakfast is served. Oh my 
goodness. What are your thoughts on this? Well, it looks like a traditional North American 
breakfast as you can see. We didn’t have much on the agenda for the next day, but I did have 
one spot saved that I wanted to see. And man, am I glad we made the short detour to see it. 
Kogenji is up there as one of the most beautiful temples I’ve been to. And I was shocked we didn’t 
come across anyone else there. Although it is quite difficult to get to by train or bus and even 
by car is 2 and 1/2 hours from Kyoto city. [Music] Look at this. These are the smallest frogs I’ve 
ever seen in my life. Like for scale. Yeah, they just look like bugs, but they’re frogs. 
This is where I wish I had a macro lens. [Music] You want to see? [Music] [Music] All right, let’s go. [Music] The next day was entirely a travel 
day, taking the bullet train back to Tokyo and transferring to a train bound for Niko. 
But rather than the regular local train, we wanted to try a different option. The Tobu rail 
company offers a limited express line called the Spacia X, which actually is not outrageously 
priced. We reserved a private compartment, but I’d recommend booking a lounge 
if you can. It looks the coolest. After a long travel day, we unwound with a 
bit of karaoke and a private onsen. [Music] Nikico is far from a hidden gem, 
but I hadn’t been in 5 years, and I think it’s a nice place for a first- 
time visitor. The UNESCO shrines and temples of Niko have been an important religious 
site since its founding in the 700s and gained even more importance when the founder 
of the Tokugawa Shogunate was buried here. But instead of going to the most popular shrines, 
we wandered over to Futarasan shrine, and tucked away in the corner is an entrance to the shrine 
gardens. Nikko Futarasan shrine is visited by many people to pray for all sorts of good fortune 
from school, work, relationships, happiness, etc. And you can even play games which if you 
succeed in can bring you even more luck in certain areas. Almost. So you get three tries 
to get it through this hole. And if you do, you get the ultimate luck, I guess. Oh, nice try. 
Ah, [Music] Ryan giving up the old college try. [Music] Then heading up to one of the 
top three waterfalls in all Japan, Kegon Falls. Last time I visited, I only 
looked at it from the free observatory up top, but it’s absolutely worth the fee to see 
it from the bottom observatory. [Music] Finally, we took a drive up into the mountains to enjoy the scenery a bit more 
since we had the car. [Music] [Music] We got monkeys. Hey monk. 
Very bored. Kind of looks depressed. Maybe. What’s my life come to? [Music] Okay, it’s our last uh day in Niko. 
We’re headed to Kinugawa onsen next, but we only have one more day 
before my dad and stepmom fly out, and I don’t have a thumbnail for this video 
yet. So, in trying to achieve that, I looked up some nearby shrines that are super lowkey, and 
I think I might have stumbled across a hidden gem. There’s no service here. We haven’t seen 
anyone. We’re the only car here. Looks promising. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Congratulations. You just 
climbed the mountain. [Music] Just 30 minutes away, still technically in Niko, is one of my favorite onsen towns in all 
of Japan. Kinugawa onen. Kinugawa literally means “angry demon river”. So you’ll 
see a lot of demon imagery around town. What you’ll also see a lot of is abandoned 
hotels, remnants of Japan’s bubble economy, and for reasons I can’t figure 
out, were never demolished. [Music] After a quick exploration around town, we checked 
into our hotel. This place could be an entire video in itself. Hosino Kai Kinugawa is a modern 
ryokan that blends traditional touches with quiet luxury. The perfect place to slow down and soak 
it all in for my parents last night in Japan. Sweeter to start than you start 
with. It’s expected. [Music] All right, see you guys in August. Great trip. 
Bye-bye. Love you. Well, there you have it for the 10 days I had with my dad and my stepmom in 
Japan. And my personal recommendation if you only have 10 days to 2 weeks like we did, I personally 
like only focusing on a couple areas and renting a car if possible. Don’t underestimate how 
many cool spots you can get to by train. But with a car, you can just get that much 
further off the bean path to places where almost no one goes. But speaking of, the rest 
of my videos focus on van life here in Japan, which really allows me to go off the bean 
path. So if you like this style of travel, definitely feel free to check them out. And with 
that, I’ll see you in the next video. [Music]

My dad and step-mom visited me for 10 days in Japan. It’s always a struggle to choose what to see on such a short trip, so I decided to focus our 10 day itinerary on two areas with renting a car in both so we could get a little off the beaten path. The first area being Kyoto prefecture, with overnight stays in the quaint fishing village of Ine and the histoical hot spring town of Kinosaki Onsen. We then headed over to Nikko for three nights, exploring the UNESCO heritage shrines and temples, and making final stop in Kinugawa Onsen.

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